3 keys to a Giants win over the Falcons: Time to make Odell Beckham Jr.'s play the story and more

And the Atlanta Falcons (2-4) await at glitzy Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the second straight prime time game for Big Blue coming off a terrible 34-13 Thursday Night Football home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7.

Tensions are high. The drama with Odell Beckham Jr., John Mara and Beckham’s water habits are non-stop. And the Giants need a win in the worst way possible. At the very least, they’ll take not being embarrassed again on the national stage.

1. FIND A SPARK FROM ANYWHERE

The Giants scored only 13 points despite Saquon Barkley’s 229 yards from scrimmage in last week’s home loss to the Eagles. They’ve scored fewer than 20 points in four of their six games. They need more players to make plays. And return man Quadree Henderson, the undrafted rookie out of Pitt, is as strong a candidate as any to be a difference-maker, making his NFL debut on Monday Night Football. The Giants have gotten nothing from their return game, and Henderson has seven TD returns in three college seasons: four on kickoffs and three on punts.

2. MAKE BECKHAM’S PLAY THE STORY

Odell Beckham #13 and Saquon Barkley. (Streeter Lecka / Getty Images)

The Beckham drama will take a backseat if the Giants actually get him the ball. It is no coincidence that his three best games were the Giants’ three most competitive of the season (Jacksonville, Houston and Carolina) and Beckham’s three games as a non-factor were their three runaway losses (Dallas, New Orleans, Philadelphia). Mostly this falls on Eli Manning. Six catches for 44 yards against the Eagles was unacceptable and inexplicable.

3. STEP UP ON DEFENSE

The Giants’ turnover differential (-4) ranks 28th out of the NFL’s 32 teams. A major reason is that their defense has forced only five turnovers (tied for second-lowest total in the league), including just one fumble recovered (tied for lowest total in the league). Matt Ryan’s Falcons offense is scoring 27.8 points per game. The Giants’ defense is surrendering 27 a game, including 33 or more allowed in three straight weeks. The Falcons’ strengths on offense are their efficiency on third down (49% conversion rate, tied for first) and in the red-zone. These also were the two most disappointing areas for the Giants defense in the Philly loss in the mind of coordinator James Bettcher. Landon Collins and Co. need to force some takeaways to limit the Falcons’ production and give the Giants’ struggling offense short fields.